School's In
by Deej1
Summary: The first Sunnydale High: Next Generation Slayers fic. Connor and Dawn start school at the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High. A groups of vampires kicked out of their old home decide to take revenge on the school. *unfinished*
1. New Arrival

Backstory:

Ok, having just been watching the first couple of seasons of Buffy, I realised I was a bit nostalgic for those high school buffy years and wanted a way to revisit them. This was my answer. Created using the rumour that the school is rebuilt for the next season of Buffy and Dawn attends, the Sunnydale High: Next Generation Slayers stories are set after (I believe) season 3 Angel and season 6 Buffy. However some things from the season finale's have been reconciled and I'd prefer to mention it now rather than try and lamely include an explanation in character speech or POV in the first pages. Basically, Angel has been saved and reconciled his differences with Connor though their relationship is strained. Believing L.A. is not the greatest place to grow up in, he sends Connor to live with Buffy, Willow and Dawn, and attend Sunnydale High with Dawn. (Assume Cordelia is not a higher being, and Wesley's relationship with the group still very strained but improving and he hasn't begun turning to his dark side.) In Sunnydale, Willow is slowly but surely getting over her magic problems, and Spike has returned and the scooby gang know he has a soul, and for this reason haven't killed him yet, but are pretty much not pleased with him. (Tara is dead, Anya and Xander are still broken up, Giles will probably return to England). Also, this story is not about the Buffy and Angel cast, so whilst they are still around and pop up from time to time, don't expect them to dominate the fics. I think that covers it all. 

[teaser:]

If there was a way Dawn Summers had imagined her life to be, it was not like this. Her mother dead, her sister a vampire slayer, and herself a magical key made flesh. All her memories dating past two years ago were false, but at least shared by the family and friends around her. She still dreaded to think what that meant about her. Sometimes she felt like she wasn't real.

She looked across at Buffy, her sister, driving to the bus station. Buffy was real. Buffy was real and it showed, in all the friends she had around her. The one or two friends Dawn had made at school had faded out of her life over summer, weirded out by the strange events the Summers' always seemed to find themselves involved in.

But Buffy seemed pleased, even nostalgic, that Dawn was going to be attending the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High this year. Dawn remembered back to the days that Buffy had attended there, except, she hadn't really existed then. They weren't real memories.

She wanted to be like her sister, couldn't Buffy see that? Maybe if she fought the evil things in life, Dawn's life would make more meaning and sense.

They arrived at the bus station, and it was late. Dawn, chin in hand and elbow resting on the inside of the car door, stared out into the dark night. It was a bit chilly to be waiting outside. Buffy turned up the heating.

"Things will be ok Dawn," she tried to reason with her sister, obviously still far from fitting into her new motherly role. She paused, "Are you worried about school?"

"No!" Dawn pulled a face and looked at her sister, "I just don't see why he has to come here! I like us the way we are."

Now it was Buffy's turn to wrinkle her nose, and Dawn knew why. It was Angel - it was always Angel. Buffy couldn't help herself when Angel was involved, and Angel has asked them to take Connor and Buffy had been unable to say "No". 

But Dawn didn't want Connor. From what she'd been told about him, she was not a fan. And she liked the Summers' household the way it was now, with all girls; her, and Buffy, and Willow. Connor was just going to come and ruin all that. She almost hoped he'd run away again and they wouldn't find him at the bus station.

Her hopes were lifted - there was no one here yet!

"It's stupid anyway," Dawn continued to her sister, "I mean, he sent him here, to the _Hellmouth_, to go to school instead of L.A. Doesn't that seem stupid to anyone else."

"Dawn, things will…" but Buffy never finished her sentence because right then the bus pulled up, it's door facing away from the girls in their car. A small crowd poured out around the front of the bus and wandered off in their own respective directions, but no Connor. Maybe he really had run off again.

After a couple of minutes of no one, there was the loud puff and thud of the bus door closing, and it pulled away back into the night. The Summers' girls stared at the empty space it had left like a black hole.

Then, through the shadows, a figure stepped out, small, male, eyes wandering about. Connor.

*********************

Connor peered around as he stepped through the doorway into the Summers' house following Buffy and Dawn. It was so different to Angel's home in the hotel, but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He knew that things were still not good between him and Angel. For one thing he still couldn't bring himself to think of Angel as his father. And there were some things about Daniel Holtz, the one Connor truly felt as a father figure, that he would just never believe.

He felt betrayed too. Right now was the time he really should be trying to see Angel as a father, that 'father-son bonding' stuff or whatever, and Angel has sent him away to live with these people he didn't know.

He was quite certain his life had just taken a turn for the worst… and he'd spent most of his life in a hell-demon dimension.

A redhead wearing a big grin came bouncing down the stairs and looked pleasantly surprised to see them all returned.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, and looked at Buffy, "Is that..? It is...! Hi!" she stuck out a hand to him, "I'm Willow." Connor stared at the hand, and then blankly at the redhead. What did she expect? He didn't know her. He thought he might vaguely remember Angel mentioning a name like that, but that didn't mean much.

The redhead didn't look too disappointed. 

She drew her hand away, "Oh… he doesn't talk much either."

Buffy flashed her best friend a wry smile, "Nope. Like father, like son I guess." Connor's skin crawled. He did not consider himself to be like his father.

The sister, Dawn, crossed her arms across her chest, pouted slightly and disappeared into the living room and around the corner.

"Are we even going to eat or is that something we don't do now that he's here!" she called bad-temperedly from the other room. Connor didn't think he liked her much, but he didn't like any of this much.

Buffy raised an eyebrow at Willow and the redhead nodded excitedly, "Oh yeah! I conjured up a feast!" 

"Willow?" Buffy, warningly. Connor couldn't figure out why, which meant it was nothing to do with him.

"…From the Doublemeat Palace," Willow finished, smiling. She sounded pleased at the joke she had made.

"Euch!" Buffy said half-disgustedly, half-joking herself, "because I haven't had burgers from there to last me a lifetime."

"So Connor," Willow said, as they all began tracing Dawn's footsteps, "do you think you'll enjoy going to Sunnydale High?… I know we did. We had a real… exciting time."

"Oh no way," Buffy discouraged the witch, "not with my sister going there. Things are not going to be like the way they were before. This year Sunnydale High is going to be a nice, _boring_ school and I'm going to make sure of it!"

*********************

Two figures completely cloaked figures scurried down the sunlight street as though they might burst into flames at any moment. Finally coming to a stop in front of a run down old building, they bashed urgently on the door and barely waited a moment before banging again. When the door finally opened, they tumbled into the shadows inside and leapt to their feat, the door closing behind them.

They pulled away their cloaks, and revealed a twistedly horrible forehead and mouthful of fangs. Another group of similarly disfigured creatures stood in a semi-circle inside. 

One stepped forward as the leader, "Well?

"They're reopening the school," one of the vampires that had just returned blurted out, and the leader looked thoughtful.

"All those children," he said, looking day-dreamingly distant for a moment. 

"Well boys," he continued, "it seems they didn't just steal our home for the last three years - they built an all you can eat bar there." All around him, the vampires grinned evilly, and hungrily…


	2. The Miscreants of Sunnydale High

The first day of Sunnydale High, it was bright, sunny and summery. The school grounds were full of new students, some whom had been attending other schools in Sunnydale, others that had previously been forced to go to high school outside of Sunnydale since Sunnydale High had been involved in that, what they vaguely referred to as 'little accident' several years earlier.

Macy was already in the halls. She was on time. She feared perhaps she was ill.

Macy was of average height for her age, slim, with broad shoulders and long black hair that she kept in an untidy plait. She wore scuffed jeans, sneakers and a slightly baggy black t-shirt, an outfit which pretty much identified her as the tomboy she was. You'd be hard-picked to find Macy in a skirt rather than her old jeans.

Her new locker was clean, and blue, and fresh. Just like everyone else's, which wouldn't do, so she stuck a big sticker of her favourite local band right across the middle. It was long, rectangular and black with gold lettering that read "Hell Took Over". It was her attitude sticker - that looked much better. 

Macy took a black marker out of her bag and pulled the cap off with her mouth. She was about to graffiti something more on the locker door when someone down the hall called her name.

"Macy!" A much shorter boy came puffing through the crowd. His blond hair was ruffled and the glasses he wore were small but thick giving him a sort of feeble Clark Kent look. However the dusted gray shirt and black pants with suspenders were doing nothing for that imagery. Aside from the heavy-looking brown backpack that bobbed behind him as he skidded towards her, he was also carrying an armload of burdensome advanced computer books and a shoulder bag that looked like it held a laptop. As he came to a stop, he grinned at her and started flinging the books into the locker beside hers.

"Heya Dusty!" Macy acknowledged. If she knew that 'Dusty' was the biggest dweeb in school, possibly on the planet, she didn't acknowledge it. But maybe that's because Dusty, aka Dustin, had been her best friend for, like, ever. Instead, she just grinned, and drew the marker back up to her lips as though it were a microphone. 

"This is Macy Kilbourne, star reporter at the first day of the grand new opening of Sunnydale High," she said in her reporter voice, "I'm here with Dustin Clark. Tell me, Dustin, what do you think about being back in Sunnydale?"

"Breathless," Dustin muttered, half playing along, and he really was from his short run. He shoved a few more books into the locker and slammed it shut, "I'd like to thank God, and my family…"

"Aww, what's wrong," Macy wisecracked, "Boarding School not sitting well with you?"

"One more day there and I would have gone somewhat… mental!"

"Oh well," Macy sighed, "Sunnydale Day School wasn't much better. Let's face it, if anything interesting actually happened in Sunnydale, we'd all die of shock and be sucked straight into hell." Of course, despite the disparaging comment, Macy couldn't help but feel a little excited today. It wasn't the prospect of a new school, no that just meant more study, boring essays and mind-numbingly difficult exams. It was the prospect of new people, fresh starts, and the beginning of a new phase of life which, hopefully, would be much more exciting than the last. She grinned broadly at Dustin, then realised he was staring past her puzzledly. She turned to see what he was looking at.

Something was happening down the other end of the hall. The double glass doors swung open and the distant sound of dramatic but modern music floated in from outside. The crowd that was overflowing at the door, packed in like sardines, suddenly split down the middle and poured up the side of the hall squeezing along the lockers. Macy's eyebrows furrowed.

Through the doors, and down the centre of the hall, five excessively fashionable girls, dressed to kill, began marching into the school. The one in the centre was in the lead in a back miniskirt, heels and a purple sleeveless top. She stalked down the halls and smelled of predator. Then, just as strangely as they'd come, the five girls turned into the doors of a classroom and the entire atmosphere they'd brought faded away as though it had never been. People began filling the hallway again.

Macy groaned, "Penelope Daaaarhling-Filby," she explained to Dustin, "Her dad is, like, a gazillionaire - at least she'd have you believe it. They say he's some hot shot lawyer in L.A. or something. Bah!" She wrinkled up her nose, "What I wanna know is, if he's so great, why's he there, and her all the way out here!?"

Dustin shrugged and adjusted his glasses, "She can't be that bad," he offered unknowingly. She didn't even dignify that with an answer. Dustin would learn soon enough. Penelope was a cancer, and the best way to keep her out of your life was to avoid and ignore her.

It was then that Macy noticed that, in the time they'd been distracted by Penelope, two more people had arrived at the lockers. She looked across at them, mildly intrigued. Behind Dustin a girl with light, long brown hair was putting her own things into a locker a couple of lockers down. She was wearing a sky blue skirt and a pink shirt. Next to her, a boy with short brown hair in fairly drab clothes was staring dubiously between the girl and the locker. 

Dawn Summers. That was the girl, she had gone to Sunnydale Day School as well. But the boy she didn't know. Anyway, it was obvious that they knew each other. He wasn't that bad looking either.

"Damn," she said to no one in particular, "No one told me it was 'bring a cute, dark, brooding guy to school day'!" Dustin just flicked his eyes in the newcomer's direction, before rolling them at his friend. He knew his friend well enough to recognize the interest as passing.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a voice interrupted them, "Gee, I guess you'll just have to stick with Mr. Nerdy Ugly-pants." It was high-pitched, dripping with deadly sarcasm, and it could only belong to one person. 'I'm-the-queen-of-the-world Penelope Darling-Filby', and she was right behind Macy. They must only have stayed in that classroom momentarily. Macy shuddered at the nearness that was Penelope. Dustin looked a little hurt.

She turned around, "You know, I don't see _any_ boys hanging around with you Penelope… just a whole lot of _girls_." The problem was, with all she'd had said about ignoring Penelope, Macy just couldn't take her own advice. Penelope flipped her hair over her shoulder and flashed an indignant look.

"I'll have you know," she said, "I came to school in Jason Milner's brand new, _expensive_ car. Not that I would expect you to know about anyone cool, he's a senior, on the _football_ team." Penelope threw herself into an angelic but self-satisfied pose.

"Penelope," Macy replied, also making sarcasm her friend, "I know who Jason Milner is. If they let girls, I'd be _on_ the football team."

"Oh that's right," Penelope threw Macy her 'you're so pathetic' look, "I forgot you're auditioning for Miss Man 2002… Anyway," she continued, before Macy could process the belittling comment, "anyone who hangs around Dawn Summers has _got_ to be creepy. Like attracts like you know." She made sure she said the last two sentences especially loud enough for Dawn to actually hear, then flashed the girl a winning smile before resuming her parade down the Sunnydale High corridor, her entire fashion pack giggling and whispering as they followed behind her.

Macy groaned and rolled her eyes, "That girl is a demon," she told Dustin, grabbing out a pen out of her emptyish bag and chucking the rest in her locker. One day, she dreamed, the world was going to turn around and thrown down with Penelope Darling-Filby.

"Oh hey," she added to Dustin distractedly, "can I borrow some paper?" 

Dustin nodded, once again carrying an armload of books as he began wobbling down the corridor to class with Macy, "Sure."

A couple of lockers down, Dawn watched the departing backs of Macy and Dustin for a moment before she noticed Connor was pulling something steely out of his jacket. A small knife glinted wickedly in the light of the corridor.

"What's that!?" she growled at Connor accusingly.

"You heard what she said," Connor replied, "that girl is a demon, we have to stop her before anyone gets hurt."

"Hello… I don't think she meant it literally." Great, just great, Dawn thought. This was supposed to be school, not slay-time, and already everybody thought she was a freak. Connor was just going to make it worse.

He looked confused, "What other way is there?"

Dawn sighed exasperatedly, "Forget about it. Look, just put that thing away before a teacher sees it or something." She gave him a glaring look before taking her own books and marching off down the hall.

Connor followed uncertainly. He didn't like being here, he could just feel it that something was wrong. Something demon, he was sure, and if it was that girl - she did have an atmosphere - then he was going to do whatever it took…


	3. The PenelopeDemon

It was that girl, next to him in class. The one who'd pinpointed another as a demon. She was blinking at her textbook and scribbling on a sheet of paper next to her.

The teacher was up the front, talking at the class. Connor was rapidly finding that school was not only fairly boring, but pretty useless too. This strange stuff about math and curves and odd numbers - when was he going to use this? He could be out slaying vampires, stopping those sickening creatures from continuing their destruction. Vampire + stake = dust. That was all the math he needed to know.

So far he hadn't been able to see that demon girl again, but the feeling that something was wrong had remained. He needed to find out what he was dealing with - it obviously couldn't be vampires because he had seen her clearly in sunlight.

This other girl caught him looking at her and flashed a brief encouraging smile. Still quiet, she held up a book and pointed at the cover of it with her pen. Connor blinked and stared at it for a minute before he realised what she was doing. She was pointing to her name, scribbled on the cover, M…a…cy - Macy. Just in case he didn't get it, she pointed at herself too. Then she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

He frowned. What? Oh, she wanted his name too. Shakily he took a pen and paper, and tried to begin writing a 'C', but it was wobbly and in the time it took to draw, he could have told the girl at least twice.

Frustrated, Connor dropped the pen and leaned across the divide.

"Step-… Connor, I'm Connor," he introduced, but he didn't really care about names. He wanted to know about the demon girl. A hand went to the knife in his pocket just thinking about it, "Did you mean what you said?" His voice came as a low but harsh whisper.

The girl, Macy, looked confused, then, "Oh no," she whispered back, "Believe me, Penelope's views are not my own. If anyone's a creep, it's Penelope, not Dawn." 

Connor frowned. No, she had it all wrong, "No, I mean… about that girl… being a demon?" The creep comment was the last thing on his mind. Why should he care what some girl said, especially if she was a demon?

"What?" she was distracted by the class, "Oh, yeah completely, Penelope Darling-Filby it totally evil." Huh! He knew it, he knew something was up. Dawn was wrong, there was nothing normal about that girl. And the blonde had the gall to call _him_ creepy.

Wait. But Dawn had said not to take the things people at school said literally. And, ok, whilst he was pretty sure she was wrong in this instance, he'd been here just long enough to know things were always exactly as they seemed in this strange new world. See, in hell, at least you knew exactly who the bad guys were. Here, he had a vampire for a father.

"So she's hurt a lot of people then?" he enquired slowly. There was no mistaking that right? Demons hurt people. Ok, people could hurt people too, but if they were that bad, maybe they deserved to be staked…

"Well," Macy replied, screwing up her nose, "yeah. I mean, mostly her bark is worse than her bite, but when she does attack, she can really rip you to pieces, if you know what I mean." Know what she meant?! That sounded pretty bloody. He'd probably need more than a knife. Like, a really big knife.

"Yeah…Why hasn't anyone done anything about her?" Why hadn't they? How could they just let something that evil come here, to school?

"I dunno, they're all sheep to the slaughterhouse or something," Macy acknowledged, "No one wants to think for themselves, stand up for themselves anymore." She flourished her comment by stabbing the air with the point of her pen.

"Somebody should just… slay her," Connor said slowly, darkly. The tone went completely over Macy's head.

"Yeah, I hear ya," she chuckled brightly, "Sometimes that's all I want to do too."

"Where does she hang out?" he pried, "There could be a nest of them." Best he did it as soon as possible, and save some lives.

"Oh there are! You know all those girls that follow her around - that's her pack. Mostly they hang out at The Bronze," the dark-haired girl brightened, "Speaking of, we should go, tonight. I mean, we should _all_ go. I'll bring my friend Dustin, and you can bring Dawn." Connor was thoughtful.

The Bronze? That sounded slightly familiar, he thought he might have heard Buffy, or Willow, or maybe Dawn mention something about it. Something about hanging out at The Bronze. If a lot of people went there, he could see why it would be so alluring to some hungry demons. 

"That girl Penelope will be there?" he asked distractedly.

Macy grimaced, "Uh, yeah, but I prefer not to think about that. Go?"

Connor nodded, "Yeah." He was tempted to go there now, but he didn't know how where it was. He would probably have to ask Dawn to show him. He didn't really want to ask Dawn anything, but his father hadn't given him much choice in the matter by sending him here.

"Great," Macy said excitedly, "If you haven't been, you're gonna love The Bronze. It defies the laws gravity, or the universe, or something - there actually _is_ a cool place in Sunnydale."

"Miss Kilbourne!" Someone had finally cottoned onto the fact that these two clearly weren't paying attention in class. The teacher up the front glared down at them, Macy Kilbourne more specifically. Macy was the one she had caught talking. 

"Wah-oh!" That was Macy. All the other students in the class turned around to look.

"Would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the class!?" The math teacher, one Ms. Jenkins, asked.

Macy stammered, "Well, uh, I'm thinking, mostly no…" A few snickers traveled around the room.

"Then perhaps you'd like to tell me how you would calculate Pythagora's Theorum?" There was a pause, then… The banter between teacher and student continued, but Connor wasn't really listening. Soon he was going to be back doing what he should be doing - slaying.

"That's a good question Ms Jenkins, and, once again, I'm thinking, mostly no…" It felt like ages since he'd killed a demon. Well, there was that thing with a lot of teeth on the bus ride over, but once you got past the slime it was pretty small time really.

"Hmm, that's what I thought. Maybe, then, you'd like to think about it in detention this afternoon whilst you scrub every single school locker, including the one you so heinously vandalised this morning." Anyway, he'd destroy these demons and show Angel that this whole school thing really was just a waste of his time.

"Ms Jenkins, I don't even know what you just said, but I can assure you the answer is probably…"

"Mostly no, yes I understand Miss Kilbourne. I'll see you in detention." Then he'd be back in L.A. again, not here.

*******************

"It's just so not fair!" Macy was complaining about something school related again, which was fairly common. So far, compared to boarding school, Dustin was kinda enjoying Sunnydale high. At the end of the day, like now, he could go home. Twenty-four hours it was not.

"I could stay," he offered anyway, "and, you know, do the cleaning thing too." He didn't really want to, of course, but it was preferable to the awkward silence Macy had promised him into with Dawn and Connor at the Bronze. Now that Macy had detention, she wouldn't make it to the Bronze 'till late. What was he going to say to them and not sound dumb-ish?

Macy laughed, "That's a good one," it faltered when she saw his face, "Oh… oh you were serious…" There was a pause long enough for Dustin to look sheepish.

"C'mon Dusty, that's no way to get friendly with the natives. Besides, they seem nice…"

"I s'pose, in a really, 'we don't really want to get to know you' kind of way…"

"What are you talking about?" Macy replied, "They're right over there." She indicated a few lockers down where Dawn and Conner were also grabbing their gear in the after school rush. Well, Dawn was, Connor didn't seem to have much gear. A minimalist, like Macy.

"Right," Dustin agreed, "and they're not even talking to us," he frowned, "or each other for that matter." Actually, it looked rather like the pair were doing their darned best to ignore each other. It was strange the way they would follow each other around but seemed to not like being in each other's company. Dustin would have preferred to be alone if he was in that situation.

Something about it gave him the heebyjeebies. Like, there was something bigger than big that they, and only they knew about. And something, he was sure, that was dislikable enough for him to want it to stay that way. But Macy didn't seem to pick up on anything.

"Still interested in Mr. Tall, Dark and, well, Dark?" Maybe that's why she was so big on Bronzing it with the two of them.

Macy took a sniffing glance in Connor's direction, "Naw, 'sides, I think he's interested in Penelope."

Dustin was surprised, Penelope? "That mean girl?… With the blonde hair?… And called him creepy?…"

"See!" Macy exclaimed, "That's why I never get guys - I haven't called enough of them creepy yet."

"Actually, he's not that tall either," he mused, "Why would you think that anyway?" Ok, he could understand that maybe this Penelope girl was pretty, but still, pretty bitchy. Macy was right, some guys just wanted to take a beating. Not him.

Macy shrugged, "I dunno. He just asked a lot about her I guess. Anyway, it'll be cool, cool? I mean, you can all sit around waiting for me," she took another glance towards the pair and frowned, "in seething silence." Maybe she was picking up on something after all.

"Well I'm cool with the silence," Dustin replied nervously, "but I don't think I seethe..."

"Ah, Miss Kilbourne, ready for your afternoon of excruciating manual hard labour?" Ms. Jenkins, the teacher who had given Macy detention, had appeared around the corridor corner behind them. Macy jumped out of her skin with fright.

"What is it with witches and creeping up on me today?" she hissed to Dustin under her breath.

He couldn't blame her. Whilst Dustin did not take Ms. Jenkins math class, Macy's verbal likeness to a witch was not far off. Ms. Jenkins had a crooked nose, cat like watchful eyes and was dressed in ancient looking, dull clothes. She could be witchy.

"I heard that Miss Kilbourne," the teacher reprimanded, and handed Macy a sponge cloth and bucket that the girl peered at dubiously, "I think we'll start you with the lockers, and move onto the floors."

"What!?" Macy squawked in terror, "I thought that was a joke! What happened to a good old fifteen page essay, or time out, or lines - I could write lines…" She looked wild and desperate. Dustin wasn't surprised - he'd seen her room. Normally, wild dogs couldn't get Macy to lift a finger to clean. Dustin's room, in comparison, was cleaner than the Sunnydale Hospital. Well, nearly. Allergies.

"Not this time little missy," Ms. Jenkins almost cackled, "tomorrow night is our official opening night and I'm in charge of the event. All parents of students, and prospective parents, are invited. People want to see where their money is going - and I intend to show them. The end of the world itself will not stop _my_ Opening Night from going perfectly as planned…" 

She glared meaningfully at Macy, "Now, shouldn't you be cleaning?" Macy threw Dustin a withering glance, praying for salvation.

"Isn't there a janitor who should be doing that?" For best friend Macy, he could be brave and stand up to a teacher.

Ms. Jenkins eyes buried through his skin. Oh… maybe not. Dustin felt butterflies.

"Yes," Ms. Jenkins acknowledged, "but I'd like to see Macy do it." The self-satisfied smile followed her down the hallway in the sound of her clip-clopping high heels.

Macy gave Dustin a sympathetic look, "It's ok, you can breathe now," Dustin let go of a lungful of air, "Thanks anyway, but I guess Ms. Jenkins just has it in for me." Teachers generally did, but it was highly related to Macy's abhorrence of anything school-related.

"Sorry," Dustin apologised. He'd really hope to get Macy out of it so he didn't feel so totally alone in a crowd tonight, "I guess I'll see you later, at the Bronze." Much later.

She sighed dramatically and held the sponge as if it were a foreign object, "Yeah, I guess we can still write… Bon voyage… Have a nice trip… While I just… stay here… with my, bucket…"

****************

In the dark corner of an abandoned Sunnydale building, the gleaming of wicked teeth filled the room, "Sun's going down… Dinner time, Mr. Wolf…"


	4. School Sux

"How was school!?" As far as Dawn Summers was concerned, some people were just too cheery as this particular moment. Big sister Buffy was one of them.

She was still wearing a red and white stripey shirt, which meant she must have gotten back from a shift at the Doublemeat Palace a little while ago. If they were eating burgers again tonight, Dawn thought she might puke. Fortunately, they weren't.

"I fixed you guys a snack, a nutritious after school snack," Buffy repeated in a lively tone, but at the same time as though she were reading from a textbook. Dawn couldn't help but feel a little bit worried then. Nutritious? Was that even a word in this house?

Buffy darted back into the kitchen to get said snack whilst Dawn threw herself down on the couch and switched the tv on low. Connor followed suit. She felt bitter that he did that. Maybe if he'd done a little less of it all day, things would have gone better for her.

A moment later Buffy reappeared with a plateful of celery, carrot, cheesesticks and dip. Dawn peered at it suspiciously and decided she wasn't hungry, but Connor dug right in and begun shoveling it in with what was perhaps not the greatest table manners. Ugh. She guessed when you lived in a hell dimension it probably didn't matter whether you got doritos or cauliflower - as long as it was edible.

"Well?" Buffy again, "Did you meet your teachers? Did you get homework?"

"Buffy, you're scaring me. You sound like Willow."

Buffy must have realised she sounded a little bit over-enthused, "Well, I just wanna be involved, now that things are just starting to get back to normal."

"Things are never normal around here," Dawn replied, then suddenly she realised, "You've got to go patrolling," she accused.

"I'm sorry Dawnie, but the vamp action in Sunnydale has been on the increase lately." Dawn just shrugged. She was getting used to this now. She was wrong - there was one normal. Even now no one had time for Dawn.

"Anyway, you won't be alone," Buffy continued, "Connor will be here with you." Oh great! She looked across at Connor, staring at the tv screen showing an afternoon road runner cartoon rerun with a piece of carrot sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Dawn screwed up her nose. In the background, Wild. E. Coyote tried to catch the road runner on rocket powered roller blades and ended up flying off a cliff.

"Can't I come," she asked, but she didn't really expect a yes answer.

Buffy sighed, "Not on a school night."

"Can we go to The Bronze?" Connor suddenly asked, the television now forgotten. Both Buffy and Dawn looked surprised.

"You want to go to The Bronze?!" Dawn asked as though it were possibly the strangest thing Connor could ever have asked. How did he even _know_ about The Bronze? "Why do _you_ want to go to The Bronze?"

Connor shrugged, "Some friends said they would meet us there." _Friends? _How did that figure? It was the first day of school and _Connor_ had made friends but she hadn't. Life just wasn't fair.

"I thought you could show me where it is," he smiled. It was a pleasant smile. That wasn't fair either! He had to stay weird and silent so that she could keep disliking him!

"Weell…" Buffy was considering it, looking thoughtful. She knew more than most that The Bronze could be a pretty dangerous place too. All the people around tended to attract a vamp or two every now and again. But suddenly, for Dawn, anyplace was preferable to here even if it meant taking the son of Angel along. If Buffy didn't let them go, she thought she might scream with frustration at the over-protectiveness. Two faces peered at Buffy expectantly.

"Ok…" Buffy broke down, "but go straight there and back - no dallying, or shortcuts," she looked meaningfully at them, "stick together and no vamp action!"

The two faces gave her innocent and angelic smiles, "We promise!"

******************

Muddy footprints. All over the main corridor. They traveled the _entire_ length of it, sometimes criss-crossing or zig-zagging, and she swore at one point they seemed to traverse up the wall. How could a corridor get so dirty in just one day!

Macy sighed and scrubbed harder at one spot on the floor. Ok, she had a mop, but for all the difference she was making she might as well have had a toothbrush. Stupid teachers! Stupid school!

"MACY!" Ms. Jenkins voice filled the halls in an urgent shout and repeated itself only seconds later in an even higher pitch, "MACY!"

What was it now? More scrubbing? Toilets?!

"I've already done that spot five times!" she complained loudly in anticipation. Nothing, not the threat of a year's worth of detention, not Ms. Jenkins 'witchcraft', absolutely nothing was going to make her do toilets!

"MACYYY!" This time a scream, very close. For the first time Macy looked up realising something might be wrong. Since when did Ms. Jenkins call her by her first name?

With impeccable timing to confirm her suspicion, two figures appeared in the hallway intersection only a few metres away, one dragging the other. The other was Ms. Jenkins, struggling and looking petrified. At the sight of Macy, she struggled harder. Her abductor, a tall man in dark clothes, reigned her in with an iron grip.

"Ms. Jenkins?" Macy's voice had become very small. This was something very dangerous. This strange man should be stopped - somebody should do something. _She_ should do something, but what?

At the sound of her voice, the man turned and looked in her direction with a snarl. Macy reeled back in fright. She dropped the mop.

She'd never seen anything like it - him. His forehead was horribly twisted, disfigured, his complexion pallid and teeth elongated like… like… like a vampire! She scooped her eyes up from the floor where they'd popped out of their sockets. Well, it felt like that anyway.

Ms. Jenkins' wacko abductor growled loudly and began dragging the teacher off in the opposite direction down the corridor, deeper into the school. It shook Macy out of her fright - right, _do_ something!

She stepped forward, running toward the pair in an effort to help the teacher she didn't really like and probably would never have admitted to having saved had she actually made it.

Macy kicked over the bucket she had been using to mop the floor. Filthy water poured out all over the corridor and she slipped, going down. Just to complete the mess, she hit her head on the bucket. Now she was wet, smelly, and close to unconscious. She tried to get up, and came face to fang with Mr. Weirdo No.2.

"Ok, ok. I'll do the toilets!" she whispered in terror. He grinned, and it was sickeningly toothy.

"Ms. JEEEEEENKIIIIIINS!"

She didn't even have time to scramble backwards before two powerfully strong arms grabbed her round the middle and began hauling her off kicking and screaming down the hallway in the same direction the other had taken the teacher only moments before.

"Is that the best you can do?" the kidnapper taunted, "I'd like to hear you scream a little louder before I eat you, little girl." Eat? Creep! LITTLE GIRL! There was just something things you didn't call Macy.

She went for the tender spot, bashing the guy in the balls. Fortunately, it worked. Doubling over in pain, he dropped her. She landed with a splodge and jumped to her feet. A couple of years of martial arts was not supposed to leave her unprepared in a situation like this.

Her abductor recovered quickly, snarling and getting ready to leap at her. Macy was waiting. 

With a hard punch to the face, "Kung foo!" Her fist stung more than she remembered it should, but it seemed to temporarily stun the kidnapper.

She gave him a high kick to the stomach, "Tae kwon do!" The guy sure took a beating. She very well may have been hurting herself more than him. There had to be a better way. Before he could come after her again, Macy grabbed him in a headlock. He tried to struggle by pulling his head out, but stopped when he saw what she was doing.

Macy rammed his head through a locker, finally his body went limp as he fell unconscious.

She looked smug, "Schoolyard bully, ninth grade." 

Great, now time for the important part - run for her life! She turned and began to bolt in the opposite direction to where she'd seen the other kidnapper leave. Halfway down the hall she stopped and frowned. 

"No…. save Ms. Jenkins." She said it as though she didn't really want to.

*************************

The flashy neon sign of The Bronze was flickering slightly at odd intervals. The club itself, however, was having no problems maintaining its usual standard. Connor, who had never been to The Bronze before, would not know this.

The inside was packed. A local band was playing on the stage. Connor looked around with all his senses, but could not spot the Penelope demon. He did see Macy's friend Dustin though. Dustin was making himself very small at a table, trying to camouflage into the crowd and failing miserably.

"Great. We're here. Now what?" said Dawn, coming up behind him. Connor just pointed at Dustin without saying anything.

Their journey over here had been quiet to say the least. Apparently, having asked how Angel was, Dawn didn't have much to say. That was fine. After telling Dawn that Angel was fine, Connor didn't have much to say either. It was a long and arduous conversation.

The pair came to a stand in front of Dustin.

"Hi," Dustin greeted weakly, "Macy will be here soon. She just… she had detention."

Five minutes later, the three were still sitting there in what might have been uncomfortable silence if there hadn't been music blaring all around them. It was still uncomfortable though.

Connor, meanwhile, was trying to think of a clever way of getting free to scour the place. If he had learned nothing else in school that day (and he hadn't), it was that telling Dawn exactly what he was doing here probably wasn't the best idea. It was stupid anyway. He didn't have to follow what some girl said. He knew his father - Holtz - would have approved of what he was doing.

Suddenly, through the crowd, he spotted her. Over between the dance floor and the stairs, in a pale blue dress. She was talking to a male, smiling and laughing. Probably some poor unsuspecting victim, Connor thought.

"What are you looking at?" Dawn asked curiously, stretching her neck in an attempt to see past.

"Nothing," Connor replied quickly. He moved so that he was in the way between Dawn and Penelope, "I… I have to pee." He got up and backed away slowly in the direction of the stairs. For a second he pointed, in what he assumed was the direction of the toilets, and then he disappeared into the crowd leaving Dawn, with Dustin, in the corner.

*****************

Buffy was only half concentrating as she trailed down the streets of Sunnydale. Mostly because things seemed to be looking up. At first, she'd been concerned because she could tell Connor and Dawn weren't getting along, but now they were going to the Bronze together. Still, having Connor stirred up a lot of memories. Of Angel.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. If there was any feeling she knew well, it was the feeling of being stalked. Sometimes, when it wasn't your average vampire, she knew who it was too. She always knew when it was Angel, but tonight it wasn't Angel.

Buffy knew who it was. And it had gone on long enough.

"Stop following me Spike." This would not do. He might be back with a soul, but it was still Spike. She had to move on. She had to. If only because there was no future with the undead. But mostly because, with or without a soul, it was still Spike.

A compliment to his stalking skills, he did come out of the shadows to the right - a different direction to which Buffy had thought he was. Spike, standing there casually in his big black trenchcoat and bleached hair.

"Hello Slayer," he said. It was too friendly.

"This has to end Spike. No more puppy eyes, no more following me through the dark. No more hanging around my front garden watching me when you think I can't see you." It just wasn't healthy for either of them.

"Of course it does." But the tone in which he said it was so casual it suggested he wasn't even listening to what he was saying let alone believing it. In a way, how could she blame him? She'd told him those same words so many times now, and she had always gone back on them.

"This isn't going to be like those other times Spike," she told him, and meant it, "I'm not going to give in this time. For God's sake Spike my front yard is not an ashtray!" Spike took a drag on his cigarette. Here he was now, trying to be so casual, as though it didn't matter, as though he didn't care about her. So he said he had a soul now, but she didn't know if he lied. Even had she cared, they had no future. Soul or no, she had made that choice before.

But that was it, now, she didn't care. She should have hated him for what he had done - what he had tried to do. Trying to take her by force. Every emotion and passion possible she had already used on Spike. Disgust, at what he was and the havok he created. She had pitied the wretched creature that had crawled to her with a chip in its head, poured herself into him and used him when he was the only other who knew hell as she did. She had hated him, hated him for what he had done, and perhaps some small part of her had loved him, and it had made her hate him for that too. But not anymore. Instead, all she felt for Spike now was an empty hole, nothing. How though, could she tell him that when she had wasted so many words before telling him no.

For a moment, without words, Buffy thought she saw something dawn in Spike's eyes. As though he could feel what she was thinking, and knew. A great sadness. And then just as quickly it faded, and the old Spike was looking at her again.

"Yeah well," he said, trying to look cool, "I never was very good at no, not even when it was more like no, no, please no!" He said it as though it were a cry for help. One of his victims. Buffy rolled her eyes and resumed her patrol, ignoring Spike. Nothing she could say was going to convince him. She could have taken action and fought him, if he pushed it to that, but that had not done her any good in the past either. Her best chance was to do nothing and prove that it did not matter to her anymore.

It was Dawn she thought about. She did not want Dawn hurt by Spike's continued presence, when she had become attached to him, and been surprised when he had tried to… When he had tried to do what he did.

Dawn. Dawn was the reason she was out here tonight. Buffy's patrol was taking her past the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High. She was not going to leave things to chance - the Slayer knew better. Dawn was going to have a nice quiet year at school and she needed to make sure of that.

Up the new front gates she stole with Spike trailing along behind. She didn't bother to tell him to stop. Buffy gazed up at the front entrance to the new school building. That was strange, there were lights on. She looked at her watch. Surely it was well past the end of detention.

But then again it was lights. Demony mayhem, she knew, preferred the dark and even burglars wouldn't be that bold. No, if lights were on, it was probably legit. No supernatural stories to tell here.

A loud scream pierced the night air and a small figure barreled out of the front door and down the stairs. A young girl, about Dawn's age, was flying along towards them, her plaited hair bouncing along behind her. She was being hotly pursued by a much taller, uglier figure.

Then again… 

Figures, thought Buffy.

She watched as the two came nearer. The girl flew right passed Buffy, a little to the left, perhaps believing the Slayer was also a Vampire. She was so busy watching her attacker though, that she missed seeing Spike and drove straight into him. It was like ramming the Titanic into the iceberg all over again. Spike may have looked slightly gangly, but he had Vampire strength. The girl went down like a sack full of beans.

The Vampire pursuing her stopped short, unsure of what to do and looking between the Slayer and her Vampire bitch. He only got a second for that eyeful before Buffy dusted him in one sweeping motion. Compared to a demon God, that guy was smaller than small fry.

Down on the ground, the black-haired girl groaned and raised herself up on her elbows.

"Oh God, I ran into a brick wall," she moaned. Buffy looked down at her.

"No," the Slayer said, "but close." Spike shot her a somewhat dirty look. Was that progress?

"Are you alright?" she asked the young girl, visibly searching the neck line for any sign of bitage. The skin looked comfortingly unbroken, but still, there were Vampires in Sunnydale High School. Of course there were. Maybe she should have considered sending Dawn away to school, like boarding school or something.

"Yes, I think so," the girl replied, rubbing her sore head, "but you have to stop that…" She looked and pointed behind her to the spot the Vampire had been in only a moment ago, and a puzzled expression crossed her face. She couldn't quite understand, "There was a guy following me, just now."

"He's gone," Buffy informed her. Probably best not to explain exactly how, "The important thing is, are there any more of them?" She'd be lucky if it was only a solo Vampire.

"Yes," the Vamp's victim, getting up from the ground, "At least two. I knocked one of them out, but the other got Ms. Jenkins. I tried to go after her, but then the third guy chased me out here." She didn't seem to even notice the dust on her jeans let alone brush it off.

"You knocked one of them out?!" Spike marveled. He had, after all, experienced the extreme lack of pain at Macy's entire body pummeling into him. No wonder he was dubious. She was such a small creature.

Macy bristled. She didn't like being thought of as not able to fend for herself.

"I've done martial arts," she protested, "I could probably kick your butt," she judged. Spike raised his eyebrows and tried not to laugh at her spunk. Buffy's mind, however, was elsewhere.

"Which way did they go?"

"Further into the school. Towards… towards the Principle's office," the girl informed her. Buffy turned to leave.

"But," the girl stopped her, "you'll have to be careful. There's something weird about these guys. You know they say the eyes are windows to the soul. Well I've never seen such ugly window pane's before, you know?"

"There's no soul in there sweetheart," Spike informed her, earning a look from Buffy in the process. Was there a soul in Spike?

"I'd believe you," said Macy. She didn't really know what she was talking about, of course.

Buffy nodded, "Spike, you stay here and look after her." Maybe he was useful for something, as long as he continued to follow her around.

"Oh come on…" but Spike's complaints fell on deaf ears. Buffy was already running up the stairs to the school. He looked agitated at being left with a job that didn't include kicking someone's butt, even if it was a demon's. Why did he always get the minding job? That said, Buffy probably wasn't going to be leaving Dawn with him any time soon.

"You know, I can look after myself, if you want to," Macy waved a hand in the general direction of the school. Still, she looked relieved when Spike drew out another cigarette and stayed, even though he ignored her.

"I don't know what kind of idiot would want to mutilate themselves like that," Macy said awkwardly, trying for small talk. She was, of course, referring to the horrible eyes and teeth sported by the men who had attacked her.

Spike blew a cloud of smoke above her head. Pausing.

"Me neither," he finally said, emotionless. Macy coughed as the smoke drifted down and seemed to cling like dirt to her lungs. Mmm, passive smoking - yuck!

"Those things will kill you," she accused.

"Really? Oh well, I'll just stop then…" He didn't bother to reign in the sarcasm. There was another awkward silence.

"You know," said Macy, "all that screaming and running stuff, that was just to throw him off."


End file.
